Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** How NASA will bake in space for the first time and why that’s a BIG deal!
On November 2nd, 2019, Northrop Grumman launched a Cygnus Cargo Ship on a resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. On board was just over 3,700 kg of science experiments, vehicle hardware, crew supplies, and other important space stuff. But included on this flight was a space first. An oven. And not just any oven, but a custom zero g oven developed by Nanoracks, a leading provider of commercial access to space, that will be used to bake the first food in space – the DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie. So today, I thought we should do a history of space food, figure out why we haven’t ever baked anything in space before, and learn from the experts on how DoubleTree by Hilton, the sponsor of this video, will actually bake their cookies on the International Space Station. Article version here – https://everydayastronaut.com/cookies…
** Expedition 61 Thanksgiving Message
Right now, half of the crew members on board the International Space Station are American astronauts who are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, and they have a message for us. Check in with NASA’s Christina Koch, Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, to learn more about what the holiday means to them and get a look at what Thanksgiving in space will be like in 2019.
“The first global geologic map of Titan is based on radar and visible-light images from NASA’s Cassini mission, which orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Labels point to several of the named surface features. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU [Click to enlarge]“. Via Universe Today and Carnival of Space
A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport (find previous roundups here):
[ Update: Videos of the rocket action that took place on Tuesday:
** Successful Ariane V launch of the “TIBA-1, for Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space on behalf of the Government of Egypt; and GX5 for the operator Inmarsat”:
https://youtu.be/mX0M73MJrjk
** A Indian PSLV successfully launched the Cartosat-13 remote sensing satellite and 13 commercial smallsats from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh :
** The static test of the Falcon 9 that will launch the upcoming Cargo Dragon mission to the ISS went well:
Falcon 9 static fire test complete — targeting December 4 launch from Pad 40 in Florida for Dragon’s nineteenth resupply mission to the @Space_Station
This is the aftermath downrange following a Chinese Long March 3B launch from Xichang early Saturday. And that yellow smoke is very toxic hypergolic propellant. Source: https://t.co/VEh5X8Ors0pic.twitter.com/22IVIpyJOk
** Ariane V to launch TIBA 1 and Inmarsat GX5 comm-sats on Tuesday Nov.26th. The mission has endured several weather delays. Liftoff is set for 4:09 pm EST (2109 GMT, 6:09 pmFrench Guiana time). TIBA-1 was developed for the Govt. of Egypt byThales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space. The GX5 satellite os for the Inmarsat. This launch will be the 250th launch of the Ariane family of rockets. The first launch was in 1979.
In the last two weeks alone, both companies have checked off major milestones while preparing their human-rated spacecraft for flight, and – with a little luck over the next few weeks – Starliner and Crew Dragon processing could align for back-to-back launches in the last few weeks of 2019.
** India to launch PSLV with Cartosat-3 imaging satellite plus 13 commercial smallsats. Liftoff now set for November 27, 2019 at 0928 hrs from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota
Rocket Lab, the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, announced today that its next mission will launch multiple microsatellites in a rideshare mission representing five different countries. The launch window for Rocket Lab’s tenth flight, named ‘Running Out Of Fingers,’ will open 25th November NZDT and take place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula.
Onboard this rideshare mission are six spacecraft comprised of 5cm PocketQube microsatellites from satellite manufacturer and mission management provider Alba Orbital. The final payload on board was procured by satellite rideshare and mission management provider Spaceflight for ALE Co., Ltd (ALE), a Tokyo-based company creating microsatellites that simulate meteor particles.
Electron’s first stage will not be recovered from this mission, however the stage includes new hardware and sensors to inform future recovery efforts. As part of a first stage block upgrade, Electron’s booster will include guidance and navigation hardware, including S-band telemetry and onboard flight computer systems, to gather data during the first stage’s atmospheric re-entry. The stage is also equipped with a reaction control system to orient the booster during its re-entry descent.
Rocket Lab’s Founder and CEO, Peter Beck, says increasing launch frequency for small satellite operators is the key driver behind Rocket Lab’s reusability program.
A new antenna will help with the booster recovery plans:
Say hi to LC-1’s newest range tracking asset. This 5.0m diameter dish gives us the ability to track Electron to Stage 2/ Stage 3 separation from LC-1. It also allows us to retask other tracking assets to support the recovery of Electron’s 1st stage as we work towards reusability. pic.twitter.com/h4yrwBHC9X
Great work by the entire Firefly team to complete qualification of the Alpha 2nd stage. This build of the stage ran a total of 949 seconds during the qual campaign, including two Mission Duty Cycles and a successful relight after a simulated coast. On to Stage 1 Qualification! pic.twitter.com/IvzgFkPvlJ
As United Launch Alliance prepares for the maiden flight of its Vulcan Centaur rocket, the company no longer has a clear timeline for a major second-stage upgrade.
ULA is preparing to launch Vulcan Centaur in 2021. The rocket features a new first stage powered by BE-4 engines from Blue Origin and an improved version of the Centaur upper stage currently used on ULA’s Atlas 5.
ULA had planned as recently as 2018 to replace Centaur with ACES, short for the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage, in 2023. ACES would have the ability to operate in space for weeks instead of hours, enabling transport between orbits and more missions beyond Earth, while also increasing how much Vulcan could lift.
Bonguet declined to say how much funding ArianeGroup is seeking at the ministerial. But the company has already started several Ariane 6 upgrades in anticipation of future ESA support, he said. Gaining ESA funding at the ministerial would ensure Ariane 6 continues to evolve in its early years. Bonguet listed five improvements ArianeGroup will seek funding for at the ministerial.
SpaceLoft XL launch on Nov.22, 2019. Credits: NASA
On Nov. 22 UP Aerospace launched its SpaceLoft rocket on a flight funded by the company’s NASA Tipping Point award. The Affordable Vehicle Avionics (AVA) project from NASA’s Ames Research Center was one of several payloads onboard.
The AVA technology flew on two previous SpaceLoft flights supported by Flight Opportunities, with the goals of testing the technology in a relevant environment and leveraging the knowledge gained from the flights to aid development. The most recent flight was the first to test the flight computer’s ability to provide the “brains” for UP Aerospace’s own guidance and control system in a fully integrated demonstration that included firing a second-stage motor. Ultimately, the small company plans to integrate its guidance and control system with technology like AVA on Spyder Orbital—a four-stage solid motor rocket that UP Aerospace is developing specifically for dedicated small payload launches.
The launch also included Flight Opportunities–supported tests for three other technologies. They included an autonomous flight termination system from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a micro-avionics system from Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems and a ADS-B transmitter prototypefrom the Federal Aviation Administration. Development teams for each experiment aim to gather data that will help them advance their technologies, working toward eventual inclusion on NASA missions or commercial space vehicles, including dedicated small payload launchers.
Development of spaceplanes for suborbital tourism, satellite launches and point-to-point terrestrial transportation are benefiting from advanced technology, panelists said at the Space Tech Expo Europe here.
“It was completely different 30 years ago,” said Koichi Yonemoto, co-founder and chief technical officer of Space Walker, a Japanese startup developing a suborbital spaceplane to launch satellites and, later, carry tourists. “At that time, everyone wanted to do single stage to orbit. To do that, you need a very efficient air-breathing engine. We did not have such an engine.”
SPACE WALKER was established in December 2017 with the aim of designing and developing sub-orbital space planes and providing operational services with the aim of creating a future where anyone can travel to space as easily as riding a plane.Currently, we are working on the development of a sub-orbital space plane for scientific experiments scheduled to be launched in 2022 with a technology partner company (* 2).
As of October 15, 2018, the angel round for the purpose of maintaining the development team structure and the basic concept of the aircraft was completed, and we received support from many people including Chairman Kasahara of Mixi Inc. We have been working on development with technology partners.
As of September 30, 2019, we have raised 370 million yen [US$3,405,850] in total from the Angel Round in less than two years since our establishment in December 2017.
Through this funding, we will strongly advance the research and development of a sub-orbital space plane technology demonstration machine that will be launched in 2022.
** Watch China’s Chang’e 4 spacecraft land on the Moon:
The full length high resolution video of Chang’e 4 soft landing on the far side of the moon on 3 January 2019.
** Progress on construction of Blue Origin facilities for New Glenn at the Cape:
BLUE ORIGIN: Work is steady on both the New Glenn complex beside the existing BO building & the work on the LC @ #NASA. New Glenn rockets will be transported to LC-36 for liftoff, but launch control for missions will be handled from the top floor of the New Glenn factory. #Spacepic.twitter.com/J2EAaoNFYq
However, it must be pointed out that the rocket performance required to go halfway around the world on a ballistic flight is only slightly less than going into orbit. So VG will need to achieve a substantial upgrade from the suborbital SpaceShipTwo to a P2P vehicle.
*** SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 with Cargo Dragon on CRS-19 mission to the ISS. Liftoff currently set for Wednesday, Dec.4th at 12:51 pm EST (1751 GMT) from Cape Canaveral.
A static test firing of the F9 engines is expected today:
SpaceX has raised a Falcon 9 rocket vertical at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad in preparation for a hold-down test-firing later today. The rocket is set for launch Dec. 4 on a resupply flight to the International Space Station. LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/r74BsOCSlPpic.twitter.com/tYtZtLFtUx
The same day that several dozen Starlink-1 satellites finished the climb up to their operational orbits, SpaceX announced media accreditation for its next Starlink launch, presumed to be Starlink-2. According to SpaceX, the mission is targeted for the last two weeks of December 2019, a schedule that will tighten as it gets closer. Previously expected to launch in early November, as few as two weeks after Starlink-1, Starlink-2 has suffered similar delays but still appears to be on track for 2019.
***More about the destruction of the Mk.1 demo Starship during pressure tests:
*** Work at Boca Chica transitioning to Mk.3 construction:
Workers are clearing up the remains of Starship Mk1, while preparing Boca Chica for the launch of future Starships, including Mk3, for which monolithic rings are already being machined on site, likely for this Mk3 vehicle. Footage and photos from Mary (@bocachicagal) for NSF. Edited by Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer). Learn about Starship Mk1: UPDATES: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind… ARTICLES: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/?s=St…
*** SpaceX Starship Mk1: Funeral for a Bulkhead – Super Heavy Pad Construction
Multiple videos and photos of the recovery of the Mk1 Bulkhead that went flying during the test failure this week. Plus a view of the Super Heavy and Starship Launch Pads, the latter still with some debris yet to be removed. Footage from Mary (@bocachicagal) for NSF.
*** More views of Boca Chica activities:
*** Florida Starship activity:
**** MK2 orbital demo Starship may be moving soon to the Kennedy Space Center:
The big move of @SpaceX#Starship#MK2 appears to be happening soon. (credit @Andy_trains screen capture) There was activity at the barge loading point last week. There have been taking scaffolding out of the lower section. pic.twitter.com/zZ4SPlVGPm
A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):
On this episode of Constellations, the podcast from Kratos, we will discuss how the advancements in earth observation satellites have impacted the geospatial industry. We will talk about temporal resolution and cadence and explore the exciting new and unique technologies that the new generation of companies is developing. Plus, learn how very high resolution satellites have changed over the years.
Listen to Chris Tucker, Principal of Yale House Ventures talk about his experience in the geospatial industry, advancements in remote sensor systems and his experience as a member of the board of directors of the Open Geospatial Consortium and the US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.
We started out talking about TSS Annual Fundraising Campaign, my telling some fundraising and Space Show audience stories which I very much appreciated plus I asked for support for this year’s campaign to make us strong for 2020. We had several calleers on different topics from experimenting with people being put in suspended animation and attempt to apply the medical experiments to space travel. There was also a call expressing concern about all of the Elon Musk businesses and how that might impact SpaceX. The final call addressed Mach Principle research, the Woodward work on the same subject and rebooting a civilization should it be destroyed. In addition to the calls we had several emails on different topics.
2. Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019; 7-8:30 pm PST (9-10:30 pm CST, 10-11:30 pm EST): We welcome back Dr. David Schrunk for a discussion on “Planet Moon” and the Science of Laws.
3. Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019: Pre-recorded Hotel Mars Program with John Batchelor. See Upcoming Show on The Space Show website for details.
4. Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019; 7-8:30 pm PST (9-10:30 pm CST, 10-11:30 pm EST): No Show due to Thanksgiving holiday.
5. Friday, Nov. 29, 2019; 9:30-11 am PST; 11:30 am -1 pm CST; 12:30-2 pm EST): No show due to Thanksgiving holiday
6. Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019; 12-1:30 pm PST (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 pm CST): We welcome Dr. Gary Greenberg on the microscopic world of sand and art and science. See his website at http://www.sandgrains.com.
** Tue, 11/19/2019 – Christopher Richins discussed “RBC Signals satellite ground stations, business growth and expansion, new government customers. Lunar and Mars communications to Earth and more”.
* Fri, 11/22/2019 – Dr. Kirby Runyon talked about “planetary nomenclature, taxonomy, the IAU and Pluto, the NASA-APL Interstellar Probe Concept Mission and much more”.
We started out talking about TSS Annual Fundraising Campaign, my telling some fundraising and Space Show audience stories which I very much appreciated plus I asked for support for this year’s campaign to make us strong for 2020. We had several calleers on different topics from experimenting with people being put in suspended animation and attempt to apply the medical experiments to space travel. There was also a call expressing concern about all of the Elon Musk businesses and how that might impact SpaceX. The final call addressed Mach Principle research, the Woodward work on the same subject and rebooting a civilization should it be destroyed. In addition to the calls we had several emails on different topics.
![Click to enlarge]](https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/figures/PIA23174_fig1.jpg){kind=link}